Original German Early WWII SA Dagger by Rare Maker Friedrich von der Kohlen with 3 Piece Belt Hanger & Scabbard Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a great early pattern SA Dagger, made by the rare maker Friedrich von der Kohlen GmbH, Stahlwarenfabrik, located in Solingen-Gräfrath, Germany. This is the first item of any type that we have had by this rare maker. The dagger comes complete with its original early pattern scabbard, as well as a complete three piece leather belt hanger, which are quite rare to find. These have both the belt loop and a securing loop for the handle, which allows the dagger to hang vertically. We have only had a few of these previously.

The dagger has solid nickel silver fittings throughout, and is a really nice example. The cross guards and tang nut are in very good condition throughout with all fittings having a nice lightly aged patina. The lower reverse guard is Gruppe/Gau marked Om for Ostmark (East March), on the far East side of Germany, centered around the city of Posen, today Poznań in Poland. This feature was only seen on daggers produced 1935 and prior. The nickel alloy end nut shows only a bit of turning, and the hilt is solid on the tang.

The grip is a fine product having a lovely red mahogany brown brown color, with a medium center ridge construction. There is only light wear and pressure denting, except for a small hairline crack running from the round SA Symbol to the pommel. It fits the crossguards nicely, with no wobble we can feel. The symbol button is nicely set, and still has most of the translucent enamel intact, with some areas a bit worn. There is a bit of verdigris surrounding the emblem. The grip eagle is a fine example being the style with beak that points straight. Most of the details are still there to the eagle to include the beak, breast feathering, wing feathering, talons, wreath and mobile swas. There is a bit of wear as well as more verdigris oxidation, showing that is the correct solid nickel silver for an early pattern eagle.

The blade of this example is in great condition, with the factory final grind cross grain retained on almost all of the blade! This texture is iconic, and is the definitive identifying characteristic for a real WWII German Blade. We do not see any evidence of post factory sharpening, though it definitely has been cleaned a bit, and there is the usual wear from the scabbard runners, present on just about every German dagger out there. The dagger retains the original factory “blunt” edge, with no dents or chips, just a bit of bending / deformation near the tip. The acid-etched Alles für Deutschland (Everything for Germany) SA motto is crisp, retaining about 75% of the factory darkening, with the rest removed by cleaning.

This fine example was produced by the rare maker Friedrich von der Kohlen GmbH, Stahlwarenfabrik (Steelware Factory), located in the Gräfrath district of Solingen, the legendary “City of Blades” in Western Germany. The rear of the dagger is marked with the company’s trademark “Back to Back FK Monogram”, with the maker name and address underneath:

(FK Monogram)
FR. V. D. KOHLEN
SOLINGEN

Per J. Anthony Carter’s book GERMAN KNIFE AND SWORD MAKERS, this firm was founded by Friedrich van der Kohlen in 1874, and registered with Solingen authorities in 1887. The company made cutlery, as well as knives for meat, kitchen work, and bread, as well as pocket knives. The company is known to have made some early pattern SA and NSKK knives, marked with the trademark and two line address, but they did not manufacture much else for the military during the third reich period. The company survived the war, and was still trading when the book was published in 2015.

The scabbard shell is straight throughout and is the early-war style, which were produced with a brown “anodized” finish on the steel, which was then lacquered. This example has lost almost all of the lacquer on the reverse, while the front still has it retained about 50%. It still retains most of the anodized finish, with no dents we can see, and just some staining and oxidation spots on the reverse. The upper and lower fittings are solid nickel silver, with a great look and some dents and scratches showing typical wear. The chape is a bit dented at the end, as the nickel alloy is somewhat soft, making this a common thing to see. The throat nicely matches the crossguards, and three of the four original screws are present, with one of the chape screws missing.

The attached three piece belt hanger is in very good condition, with the leather showing only light wear. It looks to be a later produced example, with plated steel hardware. The plated steel spring clip is (RZM) marked M5/71 over olc in a diamond, for Overhoff & Cie. of Lüdenscheid, who produced numerous clothing accessories. The loop for the handle has shrunk a bit, so it is difficult to fasten.

A great early war SA dagger by a very rare and desirable maker, complete with a rare 3 piece belt hanger and scabbard. Ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 8 3/4″
Overall length: 13 3/4”
Crossguard: 3”
Scabbard Length: 10”

History of the SA-
The SA or Brown Shirts, were a private political formation which Adolf AH and the NSDAP used to maintain order at organized Party meetings and demonstrations. The group was formed in 1921, and grew to a huge force of nearly 3,000,000 men by the later 1930’s. To instill esprit de corps, as well as create employment for the Blade City of Solingen, it was decided each SA man would carry a dagger with his Brown Shirt uniform. Huge quantities needed to be produced to accommodate the demand. The dagger initially was produced of hand-fitted nickel mounts with attractive finished wood grip and brown anodized (a bluing process) finished scabbard.

The blade was etched with the SA motto, Alles für Deutschland. Examples produced prior to 1935 were stamped with the German sector of the SA group on reverse lower crossguard. Later examples underwent standardization through the RZM ministry. These pieces were produced of cheaper plated zinc-base fittings and scabbards were simply painted brown.

Prior to his “unmasking” as a traitor, Ernst Röhm was the leader of the SA. In 1934, he distributed approximately 100,000 SA daggers with his personal inscription on the reverse blade. These daggers were to honor individuals who had served with the SA prior to December, 1931. Other than the inscription, these pieces were identical to the standard M1933 SA dagger. After the Röhm purge, the inscription was ordered to be removed. Many examples were returned to the factory for grinding. Others were simply ground in the field by whatever means were available. Examples will occasionally be encountered with remnants of the original inscription remaining on the blade, but mostly none will remain. Some blades exist with an intact inscription, reflecting only the removal of the Röhm signature. Very very rarely is an example seen with a full, untouched inscription, as the holder would have surely risked a charge of treason.